


Look At the Stars (Look How They Shine For You)

by GoldBlooded



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Birthday Fluff, Dorks in Love, Ficlet, Fireworks, Fourth of July, Idiots in Love, Kidfic, M/M, POV Bucky Barnes, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Pre-World War II Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Soulmates, Steve turning 100, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, for real these guys are stupidly in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-04
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-06-05 12:36:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15170909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldBlooded/pseuds/GoldBlooded
Summary: Every year Bucky struggled with getting Steve a present worthy of his magnificence. At age ten, watching Steve chew on a nub of a pencil as he drew weird little comics in the corner of his notebook at school, Bucky Barnes was struck with inspiration.A birthday ficlet to celebrate our favorite righteous supersoldier turning 100!





	Look At the Stars (Look How They Shine For You)

**Author's Note:**

> Title is taken from Coldplay's "Yellow"
> 
> Thanks to [chicklette](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chicklette/pseuds/chicklette) for the beta! <3

Since he could remember, Bucky loved Steve. He thought the whole world felt the same because on Steve’s birthday - and only Steve’s - the sky lit up with colorful fire. It was the only time Bucky had ever seen anything out in the world match the iridescent inferno that was Steven Grant Rogers.

When he learned that it was Independence Day, the fact seemed irrelevant to him. What did it matter that other people celebrated some crusty old paperwork when he had Steve to celebrate? When he had one more year of Steve beating his winter illnesses, one more year of pulling him out of scraps, one more year of seeing those blue eyes blaze with mischief?

Every year Bucky struggled with getting Steve a present worthy of his magnificence. While he would very much like to buy Steve a mansion with servants to cater to his every need, he was told by the man who ran the comic shop that his collection would only buy a handful of candy or a couple of bottles of Coke. That wasn’t nearly good enough.

He needed something that would make Steve smile and that he could actually get his hands on. (The mansion and servants could wait until later, he supposed.)

At age ten, watching Steve chew on a nub of a pencil as he drew weird little comics in the corner of his notebook at school, Bucky Barnes was struck with inspiration.

\---

In September, Deanna Dougall dropped two of her brand new, pristine Dixon Ticonderoga pencils underneath her desk. She only saw one, only picked up one. Bucky watched the other roll under the adjacent desk, and waited until the coast was clear to swipe it and stash it in his pocket.

In November, the clerk at the corner drugstore turned her back to help Bucky’s dad, leaving a navy blue pencil vulnerable on her ledger. It was halfway used up, but wrote with a beautifully deep tone, and Bucky felt very sure the clerk wasn’t properly appreciating it.

When Bucky’s Ma dragged him to the post office to get stamps in December, someone had knocked a hard-leaded pencil off the counter. It didn’t write deep and its lines were thin, but it was unique and Bucky thought that it deserved a home anyway.

In late March, on the first warm day of the year, Bucky was on his way to see how Steve was recovering from his chest cold. He walked past someone sketching on the bench in the park. Never one to shy away from striking up conversation, Bucky detoured and asked him what pencils he used. Fancy ones for drawing, as it turned out. And Bucky, ever the charmer, was gifted one of his very own to add to his growing stockpile.

In May, he passed one of the nicer hotels in Brooklyn when a fella got out of a cab. The man pulled his pocketbook out and dropped a pencil, and Bucky’s immediate reaction was to quickly pocket it and keep going. Later and upon closer inspection, he discovered that it was in fact one of those fancy Biro ballpoint pens- the ultimate achievement, the crown jewel of his collection.

\---

In July, when Bucky handed Steve the handkerchief that held the pilfered hoard, he was giddy with anticipation. Steve opened it and gasped, inspecting each and every one, eyes sparkling and mouth falling open when he saw the Biro. As it happened, Steve’s Ma had given him a pocket sketchbook as a present, so Steve declared it the Best Birthday Ever.

As the sun set and darkness shrouded the city, Steve and Bucky made their way out onto the fire escape to watch the fireworks. Bucky always felt a profound sense of anticipation, because as soon as the explosions started, he could feel the pops and rumbles in his chest, and he felt things so  _big_  he thought he might explode right along with them.

“It’s all for you, Stevie, you know that, right?”

Steve just chuckled and shook his head. “S’just for the holiday, Buck.”

“Nah.”

Steve laughed. “Nobody gets fireworks for their birthday, that’s just silly. The world don’t work like that.”

“Sure it does,” said Bucky, completely serious. “It does for you. For today, at least. Everything in the world is all for you today. All those stars up there? They all shine for you. All those fireworks are explodin’ and saying ‘Happy Birthday, Steve Rogers!’”

Steve snorted and said, “Pretty sure they’re saying ‘Happy Birthday, America.’”

“Nah,” Bucky said again.

Steve just looked at him, and the fireworks started. His eyes reflected the reds and golds, sparkling and shimmering with the same fire that fueled his heart… the same fire that fueled Bucky’s love for him.

Steve just grinned and set his head on Bucky’s shoulder to watch the show, lazily kicking his dangling feet. Bucky laid his head against Steve’s and felt Steve sigh with contentment.

\---

Ninety years later, Bucky presented Steve with a handkerchief of pencils swiped from various locations - they were mostly mechanical and mostly from Tony and Bruce’s lab. Pencils were rare these days, but somehow he had managed, along with a couple of really nice pens.

Steve both laughed and cried and Bucky held him close.

That night, when they stepped onto their balcony to watch the fireworks, Bucky reminded Steve that they were for him. Instead of arguing, Steve looked at him, eyes reflecting the reds and golds. No matter what changes he or his body had undergone, Steve still had the same eyes, the same blazing passion and mischief. Steve looked up at him with those eyes glowing dangerously, and Bucky was drawn like a moth to a flame.

He kissed Steve and Steve kissed him back. So had they done many times, so they would many more, but this one was just a little sweeter. Steve pulled back and set his head on Bucky’s shoulder like that same night ninety years ago. This time, he gently laced his fingers with Bucky’s. Bucky laid his own head against Steve’s, and stifled a laugh as the fireworks display exploded into a giant, sparkling representation of Steve’s shield.

“See? They’re for you, like I always said.”

Steve groaned against him.

But Bucky took secret pleasure in knowing the difference. Those fireworks celebrated Captain America, but the rest?

Just like the sun and the stars and Bucky himself…

The rest burned for Steve Rogers.

**Author's Note:**

> Come [Tumble](https://duelingnebulas.tumblr.com/) with me!


End file.
